We here at Consumerist have been writing about Christmas Creep — that phenomenon of Christmas-themed decorations inching earlier and earlier into the calendar year — since the days when it wasn’t yet common to see wreaths, trees, and tinsel on sale in September. So we’ve combined our love of DIY crafts with our not-love for Christmas in July and bring you the one and only Christmas Creep himself!

Here are four versions of the Creep — two with his “Boo Halloween” sign and two with a blank sign so you can create your own protest message — that you can print out and use to spruce up the Christmas aisles at your favorite retailer (click on an image for full-size):

And for extra credit points, here are links to a couple of Creep images with transparent backgrounds for you to edit into any photograph you want:
* IMAGE #1: NO SIGN

*IMAGE #2: WITH “BOO HALLOWEEN” SIGN

Check out the examples below to see what you can do with some scissors and string, a popsicle stick and some tape, or two minutes and some basic Photoshop skills:

So go out there and spread the Christmas Creep cheer and send us the photos at tips@consumerist.com

iPhone users can also send us Christmas Creep photos with with the free Consumerist Tipster app. Just make sure the word “creep” is in the text and the little monster will show up on our end.

WHATEVER YOU DO WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS CREEP, DEFINITELY, ABSOLUTELY, DO NOT DO ANYTHING ILLEGAL OR DO ANY DAMAGE TO STORE PROPERTY!

After all, the Creep may be a creep, but he’s no criminal…

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